Eric Halladay (9 July 1930 – 19 July 1997) was a British historian, academic, and rowing coach. He was

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

Grey College, Durham Grey College is a college of Durham University in England. Although it was originally planned for the college to be named Oliver Cromwell College, this proved too controversial and it was instead named after Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, who was p ...

from 1980 to 1989,

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

St Aidan's College, Durham , motto_English = "No coaching, not now, not ever" , scarf = , location = Windmill Hill, Durham DH1 3LJ , named_for = St Aidan of Lindisfarne , namesake = St Aidan of Lindisfarne , established = 1947 , pri ...

from 1990 to 1991, and

Principal Principal may refer to: Title or rank * Principal (academia), the chief executive of a university ** Principal (education), the office holder/ or boss in any school * Principal (civil service) or principal officer, the senior management level in ...

St Chad's College, Durham , motto_English = Not what you have, but who you are , scarf = , established = 1904 , principal = Margaret Masson , senior_tutor = Eleanor Spencer-Regan , undergraduates = 409 , postgraduates = 150 , website = , coordinates = , location_map ...

from 1991 to 1994.

Early life

Halladay was born in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into t ...

on 9 July 1930 and was the son of a

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pr ...

. He was educated at

Durham School Durham School is an independent boarding and day school in the English public school tradition located in Durham, North East England and was an all-boys institution until 1985, when girls were admitted to the sixth form. The school takes pupils ...

, where he learnt to row on the

River Wear The River Wear (, ) in North East England rises in the Pennines and flows eastwards, mostly through County Durham to the North Sea in the City of Sunderland. At long, it is one of the region's longest rivers, wends in a steep valley through ...

. He studied history at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. Th ...

and was a member of the

Lady Margaret Boat Club The Lady Margaret Boat Club (abbreviated to "LMBC" and known as "Maggie") is the rowing club for members of St John's College, Cambridge, England. The club is named after Lady Margaret Beaufort, founder of the College. History LMBC was found ...

. Following his graduation from the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, he studied theology at

Ripon Hall Ripon College Cuddesdon is a Church of England theological college in Cuddesdon, a village outside Oxford, England. The College trains men and women for ministry in the Church of England: stipendiary, non-stipendiary, local ordained and lay min ...

, Oxford, for one year.

Career

Military service

On 14 February 1949, as part of

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

, he was granted an emergency commission in the

Royal Regiment of Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

with the rank of

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until 1 ...

. He served with the 5th

Royal Horse Artillery The Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) was formed in 1793 as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery (commonly termed Royal Artillery) to provide horse artillery support to the cavalry units of the British Army. (Although the cavalry link r ...

. On 21 December 1951, he was transferred to the Supplementary Reserve officers and granted seniority in the rank of second lieutenant from 4 August 1950. On 7 June 1952, he was promoted to

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a bro ...

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

. He was promoted to lieutenant on 9 July 1953 with seniority from 7 July 1952. On 22 July 1958, he was transferred to the Territorial Army Reserve of Officers.

Academic career

Halladay began his academic career not as a lecturer but a teacher. He taught history at

Exeter School Exeter School is an independent co-educational day school for pupils between the ages of 7 and 18 in Exeter, Devon, England. In 2019, there were around 200 pupils in the Junior School and 700 in the Senior School. History The School traces i ...

, an independent school in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal c ...

, Devon. In 1960, he was appointed a

senior lecturer Senior lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, and Israel senior lecturer is a faculty position at a university or similar institution. The position is tenured (in systems with this con ...

at the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...

. While his main duties at the academy were to teach the

officer cadets Officer Cadet is a rank held by military cadets during their training to become commissioned officers. In the United Kingdom, the rank is also used by members of University Royal Naval Units, University Officer Training Corps and University ...

military history, he also coached the Boat Club. He joined Durham University in 1964 as a lecturer in history. He specialised in military and African history. The same year, he was appointed senior tutor of

. He co-wrote ''The Building of Modern Africa'' with D. D. Rooney which was published in 1966. He was appointed Vice-Master of Grey in 1967, therefore deputising to the then Master

Sidney Holgate Sidney Holgate, CBE (9 September 1918 – 17 May 2003) was a British mathematician and academic. Holgate was schooled at Henry Mellish School and won a scholarship to Hatfield College, Durham, where he studied Mathematics and eventually became ...

. In 1972, his book ''The Emergent Continent: Africa in the Nineteenth Century'' was published. In 1980, he became the second

of Grey College. As the head of college, he became a part-time lecturer. He then moved colleges, and served as

from 1991 to 1994.

Rowing coach

In 1963, Halladay coached a team from the

to win the

Ladies' Challenge Plate The Ladies' Challenge Plate is one of the events at Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. Crews of men's eight-oared boats below the standard of the Grand Challenge Cup can enter, although international standar ...

. This was the first

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the thr ...

he would win.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halladay, Eric 1930 births 1997 deaths Academics of Durham University Masters of Grey College, Durham Principals of St Chad's College, Durham People educated at Durham School Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Royal Artillery officers Alumni of Ripon College Cuddesdon 20th-century British historians Stewards of Henley Royal Regatta Schoolteachers from Devon People from Huddersfield